Motenashi - Eames House

Charles and Ray never visited Japan prior to building their home, but certain elements of their architecture struck me as Japanese. Charles Eames once remarked to his collaborator Eero Saarinen that “the role of the architect, or the designer, is that of a very good, thoughtful host, all of whose energy goes into trying to anticipate the needs of his guests.” During their lifetime, they used their house to host a wide range of gatherings from Japanese tea ceremonies with Isamu Noguchi and Charlie Chaplin to large meetings with nuns. 

Charlie chaplin at tea ceremony in Eames House

nun party

Even though Charles and Ray are no longer around to greet guests, their house exudes ‘motenashi’ – the japanese traditional code of conduct outlining the ideal guest-host relationship. In Japan, a good host should: (1) anticipate other’s needs, before the guest feels the need himself (2) provide flexibility to the situation, calibrating the appropriate amount of formality or casualness, (3) understate his efforts in order to create a comfortable feeling for the guest. The atmosphere of the Eames house, with its embrace of nature and ability to accommodate and showcase their eclectic curios from their world travel, and vibrant bright colors, is playful and entertaining. Visiting the house, you see shells, fabrics, toys, folk art, candles, books and souvenirs, and all sorts of little tiny objects that the tell stories of their hosts. The candlesticks were especially important — as the Eameses had breakfast by candlelight every morning. 

Eames' daughter, lucia posing with stuff

more stuff

breakfast with candles

And the tumbleweed hanging from the living room ceiling “is not just any tumbleweed. It was very special to Charles and Ray. When they were married in Chicago, in June 1941, they were pretty much broke. And when you’re broke like that, your idea of a honeymoon is a road trip to California to start a new life. It may sound unromantic, but actually I think it was incredibly romantic.

They came out here because they were trying to figure out how to produce molded plywood in compound curves, to solve the problems of their earlier chairs. Somewhere in the Southwest, probably near Canyon de Chelly, they found this tumbleweed and tossed it in the back of the car — a beautiful, beautiful tumbleweed. You can see that in silhouette photographs they took of it, and it showed up in some of their Herman Miller showroom installations.” 

tumbleweed

Like the Japanese, to create their house, the Eameses used prefabricated materials. The idea of using a kit of parts of prefabricated materials is an ancient idea in japan. To ensure high quality and swift construction, wood was precut off-site and assembled on site. Instead of using wood, tatami mats, washi paper shoji screens, wooden posts and beams, the Eameses utilized 4” steel H-columns, 12” open-web trusscon steel beam and joists, marine catalog parts for the stairs, plyon plastic panels, pre-fabricated steel windows, Cemestos panels, and chicken-wire and factory-standard glass. The Eameses selected materials that were low-cost yet high quality and could be mass produced. Their original goal was to provide a post-war model of a house that could be mass produced. When their steel was delivered to the site 2 years later than anticipated due to war time shortages, the Eames took advantage of the delay to reconfigure the materials from the bridge house to the as-built design. See previous post.

Once on site, the foundation and steel frame were assembled in 16 hours, and the remainder of the modular home was finished in less than 10 months. The columns were arranged on a 20’ by 7’-6” module. In japan, due to the structural properties of wood, posts are typically spaced 6’ apart and are related to the 3’x6’ tatami mat module called ‘ken’. The Eames House volume for living was comprised of 8 bays, the art studio was made up of 5 bays, and the courtyard between the 2 buildings was 4 bays. While machined steel may seem like a cold material for residential use, Charles found that the inorganic materials were a “complement to the surroundings.” 

japanese interior

japanese prefabricated house pieces

The Eameses also added industrial materials like Plyon to the interior palette of the house. Plyon was originally developed as a lightweight translucent durable plastic military aircraft fuel-cell liner by Swedow Plastics. Thin and strong, it was used in the millwork, and window panels. Analogous to translucent ‘washi’ paper screens in shoji, the Eames used plyon in screens in sliding wood frames to shade the interior from sunlight and provide privacy. Like Japanese houses which use washi, the Eames house atmosphere was layered in mysterious shadows. Unlike washi which easily tears, of the plyon panels within the house have needed replacement over the past 70 years. 

shoji shadows

pylon shadows

One can imagine sitting low to the floor like a Japanese within the Eames’ furnished living room and their 10 inch high LTR table, alexander girard checked floor cushion pillows, and a pair of carved Indian wood seats…. The double height living room with the slender profiles of the steel columns, use of translucent and transparent exterior materials, and large glass sliding doors all have the effect of opening the interior to the exterior like a Japanese house. 

Eameses sitting low

looking outside from living room

Stepping through the opening sliding glass doors, one would encounter a sparsely planted Japanese-like ‘karesansui’ dry landscape garden grid of square hardscape pavers of bricks and wood endcaps. The spaces of textures of the hardscape heighten the importance of the plantings. The only greenery planted directly into the south courtyard among the red brick is a Bonsai tree, barely reaching three feet in height after nearly 70 years of life.

bonsai

engawa-south garden